Pipelines are needed for conveying fluids such as water, oil effluent, natural gas, carbon dioxide or mining slurries some of which may be pressurized.
Thin walled metal pipes offer an advantage in terms of facilitated handling and reduced material costs, however, have proven difficult to connect in a reliable and efficient manner.
It is desirable that the pipeline system be resistant to internal corrosion and/or abrasion that may shorten the useful life of the pipeline. Sometimes, the fluids transported within the pipeline may corrode or abrade metal pipe materials where many plastic materials exhibit superior resistance to these effects.
It has become common to repair corroded or abraded pipelines by pulling significant lengths of a plastic liner through an existing metal pipe that is already installed and has been in service. New pipeline systems can also be constructed in the same manner.
This construction method requires many expensive steps including the in-field construction of a metal pipeline, construction of a separate plastic pipeline and then the process of inserting the long length of plastic pipeline into the metal pipeline.